Karen Jonas: Butter (CD)

(Karen Jonas Music) 10 tracks

Produced by Jeff Covert, Jonas, and Tim Bray, Butter mixes the textured twang of Jonas's folk and country roots - a sound she explored fully on her previous album, 2016's critically acclaimed Country Songs - with the diverse influences of ragtime, blues, jazz, and barroom soul. It's her broadest, boldest album to date, with songs that anchor themselves in Southern storytelling and Jonas's smooth, unforced croon. Butter is a retro-minded album for the modern age - the sound of a songwriter celebrating her circumstances.

Jonas's intensely personal songwriting first grabbed national attention with the release of her critically acclaimed 2014 debut album Oklahoma Lottery, followed by Country Songs in 2016. In 2017, Jonas was nominated for an Ameripolitan Award in the Honky Tonk Female Category, and won Readers' Choice Award for Best Local Band/Vocalist by the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star in 2017 and 2018. Her music has been lauded around the world.